Mid-Morning Market Update: Markets Mixed; Cisco Issues Weak Outlook

Following the market opening Thursday, the Dow traded down 0.15% to 27933.86 while the NASDAQ rose 0.54% to 11,071.49. The S&P also rose, gaining 0.05% to 3,382.12.

The U.S. has the highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, reporting a total of 5,201,230 cases with around 166,110 deaths. Brazil confirmed a total of over 3,164,780 COVID-19 cases with 104,200 deaths, while India reported a total of at least 2,396,630 confirmed cases and 47,030 deaths. In total, there were at least 20,666,150 cases of COVID-19 worldwide with over 750,370 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Leading and Lagging Sectors

Communication services shares gained 0.6% on Thursday. Meanwhile, top gainers in the sector included China Unicom (Hong Kong) Limited CHU, up 20%, and Entercom Communications Corp. ETM, up 23%.

In trading on Wednesday, health care shares fell by 0.5%.

Top Headline

Cisco Systems, Inc. CSCO reported upbeat results for its fourth quarter, but issued a weak forecast for the current quarter.

Earnings per share came in at $0.80, which beat the estimate of $0.74. The company posted revenue of $12.20 billion, exceeding expectations of $12.08 billion.

Cisco said it expects Q1 adjusted EPS of $0.69-$0.71, versus analysts’ estimates of $0.76. Sales are projected to decline 9% to 11% year over year.

Equities Trading UP

FAT Brands Inc. FAT shares shot up 155% to $9.00 after the company announced it planned to acquire Johnny Rockets for $25 million.

Shares of India Globalization Capital, Inc. IGC got a boost, shooting 27% to $3.25 on continued upward momentum after the company earlier reported on Tuesday the FDA approved the initiation of the company's cannabinoid trial on Alzheimer's patients.

Aspen Technology, Inc. AZPN shares were also up, gaining 31% to $127.82 after the company reported better-than-expected Q4 results and issued strong FY20 guidance. KeyBanc maintained Aspen Technology with an Overweight rating and raised the price target from $120 to $137.

Equities Trading DOWN

Newgioco Group, Inc. NWGI shares tumbled 25% to $2.01 after the company reported pricing of $10.0 million underwritten public offering.

Shares of Varex Imaging Corporation VREX were down 24% to $12.15 after the company reported a Q3 loss of $0.20 per share. Oppenheimer also downgraded the stock from Outperform to Perform.

Vroom, Inc. VRM was down, falling 19% to $56.32 after the company issued downbeat Q3 EPS and sales guidance.

Commodities


In commodity news, oil traded up 0.1% to $42.67, while gold traded up 0.1% to $1,950.50.

Silver traded up 3.3% Thursday to $26.825, while copper fell 1.8% to $2.8405.

Euro zone

European shares were lower today. The eurozone’s STOXX 600 fell 0.6%, the Spanish Ibex Index fell 0.4%, while Italy’s FTSE MIB Index declined 0.7%. Meanwhile, the German DAX 30 declined 0.6%, French CAC 40 fell 0.5% and UK shares fell 1.3%.

Economics

U.S. initial jobless claims increased 963,000 in the week ended August 8, versus analysts’ estimates of 1.1 million.

U.S. import prices increased 0.7% in July after rising 1.4% in June. Export prices rose 0.8% in July, following a revised 1.2% gain in June.

The Energy Information Administration’s weekly report on natural gas stocks in underground storage is scheduled for release at 10:30 a.m. ET.

The Treasury is set to auction 4-and 8-week bills at 11:30 a.m. ET.

The Treasury will auction 30-year bonds at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Data on money supply for the recent week will be released at 4:30 p.m. ET.